Bangalore: The BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, jointly developed by India and Russia and which can travel at speeds of 2.5 to 2.8 mach, is likely to be inducted in the Indian Air Force (IAF) by 2013, a top official said Wednesday.

The IAF version of the precision-attack low-flying missile would be completing its air-to-ground tests by 2012.

"We expect it to be inducted in IAF by 2013," CEO and Managing Director of BrahMos Aerospace Limited (BAL) A. Sivathanu Pillai told reporters on the margins of the second international space exhibition and conference here.

BrahMos, which has already been inducted in the Indian Army and the Indian Navy, can carry a payload of 200 to 300 kg of explosives.

The Sukhoi SU-30MKI combat jet has been chosen as the aircraft to be fitted with the BrahMos. The aircraft is being modified for the purpose.

"The aircraft has to undergo certain modifications," Pillai said.

The Bangalore-based Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is building the modified version of the Russian-made aircraft for reducing its weight and giving it additional propulsion.

A prototype of the aircraft is also being built and tested in Russia.

The BrahMos is capable of attacking from land-to-ship, ship-to-land and ship-to ship, Pillai said.

The IAF version will have the capacity of attacking large targets from air to ground.

The missile, being developed by BAL, a joint venture between India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Russia's NPO Mashinostroeyenia, costs around Rs 1,500 crore.

The BrahMos will also be tested for its underwater performance, Pillai said.

"We are even looking into the aspect of fitting it on the submarines to attack ships and underwater elements (submarines). The technology is ready but the platform for testing has to be built," he said.

correct me if im wrong , but brahmos cant be taken out by any defence shield existing in the world today.
once fired , there is nothing that can stop the brahmos from hitting the target..?

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actually i will not 100% agree with it,since brahmos is a supersonic missile and no defense shield have a 100% hit ratio,brahmos definitely have an edge over other cruise missile,but calling it invincible,i dont agree with it

correct me if im wrong , but brahmos cant be taken out by any defence shield existing in the world today.
once fired , there is nothing that can stop the brahmos from hitting the target..?

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Brahmos can be taken out by several guns or missiles. You don't need a supersonic missile to take out a supersonic missile. So any missile system can be used to take Brahmos out. The only point that works in our favor is that very few anti-missile systems exist and our enemies don't have one.

just wanna ask one thing.. would we be able to induct brahmos to our mmrca as well ?

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Unfortunately no. In order to guide Brahmos we need a radar that can scan and track targets as far as 300 kms. Only the 42 Su-30s which are specially being modified for Brahmos will be equipped with such avionics. So only those 42 Su30s will be able to carry Brahmos.

Brahmos can be taken out by several guns or missiles. You don't need a supersonic missile to take out a supersonic missile. So any missile system can be used to take Brahmos out. The only point that works in our favor is that very few anti-missile systems exist and our enemies don't have one.
Even a gattling gun can be used to take out Brahmos.

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how exactly ?? in that speed even if the enemy has a missile shield...its virtually impossible intercept Brahmos.

So you see we don't need a supersonic missile to kill a supersonic missile. Its path can be predicted and it can be intercepted midway. Gatling guns are also used to kill missiles. These guns fire huge bullets at very high rate. So even if the bullets intercept the Brahmos missile at a distance of just 20-30 meters, the target would be safe.

So you see we don't need a supersonic missile to kill a supersonic missile. Its path can be predicted and it can be intercepted midway. Gatling guns are also used to kill missiles. These guns fire huge bullets at very high rate. So even if the bullets intercept the Brahmos missile at a distance of just 20-30 meters, the target would be safe.

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Are you talking about CIWS?, Not man portable ones. only CIWS can be used. But anyway I agree with you that its possible to shut a supersonic missile down. I actually dont believe that any land based automated gatling gun can actually be used to shut a missile down.

but thats entirely on prediction and predicted calculations....and we should remember that Brahmos can be manouvered in mid way..so all predictions go waste..secondly..if enemy uses the above shown method, then it has to launch the interception missile way before the clashing point based upon the calculations on Brahmos speed and its predicted route..and not following its heat signature...so its becomes almost impossible...if we see your method then even the hypersonic missiles will be interceptable...I remember bein tired discussing this with 'death by Chocolate'.

^^^but thats entirely on prediction and predicted calculations....and we should remember that Brahmos can be manouvered in mid way..so all predictions go waste..secondly..if enemy uses the above shown method, then it has to launch the interception missile way before the clashing point based upon the calculations on Brahmos speed and its predicted route..and not following its heat signature...so its becomes almost impossible...if we see your method then even the hypersonic missiles will be interceptable...I remember bein tired discussing this with 'death by Chocolate'.

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Yes, its entirely on prediction, but the prediction may be just for the next 10 seconds. Brahmos is maneuverable but when it maneuvers is a big factor. Also, if you're aware, SAMs have a very high velocity, 4-5 mach, so they can even trail Brahmos if need arise. Air-air missiles can also be used since they also have a high velocity.

One doesn't need to strike the Brahmos in order to disable it, even if an interceptor missile blasts close to the missile, it would damage it enough to render it useless.

Brahmos or for that matter any supersonic missile can be intercepted, even hypersonic missiles can be intercepted, the only difference is that as the speed of missile increases, the reaction time and the options available start reducing.
Pakistan can not stop Brahmos, not because they don't have the right guns or missiles, but because their infrastructure is such that their response time is too high. They have a huge territory to guard and only a few bases capable of missiles intercepting Brahmos.

Are you talking about CIWS?, Not man portable ones. only CIWS can be used. But anyway I agree with you that its possible to shut a supersonic missile down. I actually dont believe that any land based automated gatling gun can actually be used to shut a missile down.

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Land based gatling guns are not used for air defense, they are smaller guns, with a slower fire rate. But then we have anti-aircraft guns.

Yes, its entirely on prediction, but the prediction may be just for the next 10 seconds. Brahmos is maneuverable but when it maneuvers is a big factor. Also, if you're aware, SAMs have a very high velocity, 4-5 mach, so they can even trail Brahmos if need arise. Air-air missiles can also be used since they also have a high velocity.

One doesn't need to strike the Brahmos in order to disable it, even if an interceptor missile blasts close to the missile, it would damage it enough to render it useless.

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gattlng guns sound more promising as they would strike it at a very close distance and would fire constantly...but in case of SAMs or other or air- air missile the chances would be almost nil simply because of its speed and our forces while using it, will certainly keep in mind the manouver factor..once it changes it path...all enemy plans will stay wasted.